MIAMI GARDENS — Visor Tua is here to stay.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said Tuesday he will continue to wear the visor he sported to protect a swollen eye in Sunday’s 34-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which he threw four touchdown passes at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Yeah, I think the guys like the visor, so I’ll stick with the visor,” Tagovailoa said, as his team prepares on a short week for the Baltimore Ravens back at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday night.
So the visor will make an appearance in a national standalone game streaming on Amazon Prime Video, and airing on local television with CBS-4.
The swelling around Tagovailoa’s affected left eye had reduced significantly when he stepped up to the podium in front of media members before the Dolphins held a walkthrough on Tuesday. He still had some red in the eye.
“It’s good,” Tagoailoa said. “I can see a lot better than I could (Sunday), in terms of how open my eyelid was or how closed it was. It’s been good.”
He took the step of going without the sunglasses he wore to his postgame news conference Sunday in Atlanta, a decision he said was strictly about the appearance of the eye. Light sensitivity is not an issue, the Dolphins quarterback said.
Tagovailoa said he will continue wearing the visor over his facemask even when the eye is fully healed.
He was right about his teammates’ approval.
“That’s that next-level swagger for Tua. He needs that every week,” center Aaron Brewer said Tuesday.
Added left tackle Patrick Paul: “I like the visor. We might have to keep the visor. The visor was tough.”
Sunday in Atlanta, Tagovailoa was an efficient 20 of 26 for 205 yards, throwing his touchdowns to four different receivers: De’Von Achane, Malik Washington, Jaylen Waddle and Ollie Gordon II.
Achane and Waddle certainly pushed for Tagovailoa to stick with the visor.
“I told him, ‘You need to keep wearing it. You need to get your swagger up. You’ll be out there looking all plain,’” Achane said in Atlanta. “See what happened (Sunday)? Wear a visor. I’m trying to tell you.”
Said Waddle: “I thought it was kind of swaggy, honestly.”
Tagovailoa woke up Sunday morning with his eye swollen shut.
“Probably one of the worst experiences I’ve had,” Tagovailoa said Sunday.
As of Monday, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said it wasn’t much of a concern, answering with some of his patented humor that has returned coming off a win.
“It really was a blip on my radar. I guess it was an eye issue, I’d call it. What does that mean? He has a built-in Halloween costume, for sure,” he said. “Outside of that, it’s not really on my radar. There’s medicines delivered by people that are responsible for that.”
This story will be updated.